Computerized analysis of error patterns in digit span recall

Woods, David L.; Herron, Timothy J.; Yund, E. William; Hink, Robert F.; Kishiyama, Mark M.; Reed, Bruce R

doi:10.1080/13803395.2010.550602

Cited by 31 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…In the current experiment, 44% of malingering subjects produced abnormal results on the C-TMT-A, and 18% produced abnormalities on the C-TMT-B. As in previous reports [38], malingering-related abnormalities on the TMT were relatively less common than those observed in the same subjects on tests of simple reaction time [44], digit span [45], and finger-tapping [46]. …”

Section: Experiments 3: Effects Of Malingeringsupporting

confidence: 80%

The Effects of Aging, Malingering, and Traumatic Brain Injury on Computerized Trail-Making Test Performance

et al. 2015

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The trail making test (TMT) is widely used to assess speed of processing and executive function. However, normative data sets gathered at different sites show significant inconsistencies. Here, we describe a computerized version of the TMT (C-TMT) that increases the precision and replicability of the TMT by permitting a segment-by-segment analysis of performance and separate analyses of dwell-time, move-time, and error time. Experiment 1 examined 165 subjects of various ages and found that completion times on both the C-TMT-A (where subjects connect successively numbered circles) and the C-TMT-B (where subjects connect circles containing alternating letters and numbers) were strongly influenced by age. Experiment 2 examined 50 subjects who underwent three test sessions. The results of the first test session were well fit by the normative data gathered in Experiment 1. Sessions 2 and 3 demonstrated significant learning effects, particularly on the C-TMT-B, and showed good test-retest reliability. Experiment 3 examined performance in subjects instructed to feign symptoms of traumatic brain injury: 44% of subjects produced abnormal completion times on the C-TMT-A, and 18% on the C-TMT-B. Malingering subjects could be distinguished from abnormally slow controls based on (1) disproportionate increases in dwell-time on the C-TMT-A, and (2) greater deficits on the C-TMT-A than on the C-TMT-B. Experiment 4 examined the performance of 28 patients with traumatic brain injury: C-TMT-B completion times were slowed, and TBI patients showed reduced movement velocities on both tests. The C-TMT improves the reliability and sensitivity of the trail making test of processing speed and executive function.

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Section: Experiments 3: Effects Of Malingeringsupporting

confidence: 80%

The Effects of Aging, Malingering, and Traumatic Brain Injury on Computerized Trail-Making Test Performance

et al. 2015

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“…Each CCAB test session included the following computerized tests and questionnaires: finger tapping [73, 74], simple reaction time [75, 76], Stroop, digit span forward and backward [77, 78], verbal list learning, visuospatial span [79, 80], trail making [81], vocabulary, design fluency [82], the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR), choice reaction time [75, 83], risk and loss avoidance, delay discounting, the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) [84], the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL) [85], and a local traumatic brain injury questionnaire. Testing was performed in a quiet room using a standard Personal Computer (PC) controlled by Presentation® software (Versions 13 and 14, NeuroBehavioral Systems, Berkeley CA).…”

Section: Experiments 1 Demographic Influences On Verbal Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subjects reported an average computer-use score of 5.09 (an average of 2–3 hours per day). In previous studies, we found that daily hours of computer-use correlated with performance both on tests that required responding with the mouse [75, 76, 79, 81, 85] and tests that required only verbal output, such as digit span [78] and the paced auditory serial addition test [84]. …”

Section: Experiments 1 Demographic Influences On Verbal Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, while malingerers produced abnormal correct-word scores, they did so in a manner that failed to match the characteristics of non-malingering subjects with abnormal scores. In other neuropsychological tests, ancillary performance measures have shown utility in distinguishing simulated malingerers and controls with abnormal scores [75, 78, 81, 99, 100]. Thus, while malingerers may produce criterion scores in the abnormal range they do so in different manner from subjects with intrinsically limited processing abilities.…”

Section: Experiments 1 Demographic Influences On Verbal Fluencymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Computerized Analysis of Verbal Fluency: Normative Data and the Effects of Repeated Testing, Simulated Malingering, and Traumatic Brain Injury

et al. 2016

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In verbal fluency (VF) tests, subjects articulate words in a specified category during a short test period (typically 60 s). Verbal fluency tests are widely used to study language development and to evaluate memory retrieval in neuropsychiatric disorders. Performance is usually measured as the total number of correct words retrieved. Here, we describe the properties of a computerized VF (C-VF) test that tallies correct words and repetitions while providing additional lexical measures of word frequency, syllable count, and typicality. In addition, the C-VF permits (1) the analysis of the rate of responding over time, and (2) the analysis of the semantic relationships between words using a new method, Explicit Semantic Analysis (ESA), as well as the established semantic clustering and switching measures developed by Troyer et al. (1997). In Experiment 1, we gathered normative data from 180 subjects ranging in age from 18 to 82 years in semantic (“animals”) and phonemic (letter “F”) conditions. The number of words retrieved in 90 s correlated with education and daily hours of computer-use. The rate of word production declined sharply over time during both tests. In semantic conditions, correct-word scores correlated strongly with the number of ESA and Troyer-defined semantic switches as well as with an ESA-defined semantic organization index (SOI). In phonemic conditions, ESA revealed significant semantic influences in the sequence of words retrieved. In Experiment 2, we examined the test-retest reliability of different measures across three weekly tests in 40 young subjects. Different categories were used for each semantic (“animals”, “parts of the body”, and “foods”) and phonemic (letters “F”, “A”, and “S”) condition. After regressing out the influences of education and computer-use, we found that correct-word z-scores in the first session did not differ from those of the subjects in Experiment 1. Word production was uniformly greater in semantic than phonemic conditions. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of correct-word z-scores were higher for phonemic (0.91) than semantic (0.77) tests. In semantic conditions, good reliability was also seen for the SOI (ICC = 0.68) and ESA-defined switches in semantic categories (ICC = 0.62). In Experiment 3, we examined the performance of subjects from Experiment 2 when instructed to malinger: 38% showed abnormal (p< 0.05) performance in semantic conditions. Simulated malingerers with abnormal scores could be distinguished with 80% sensitivity and 89% specificity from subjects with abnormal scores in Experiment 1 using lexical, temporal, and semantic measures. In Experiment 4, we tested patients with mild and severe traumatic brain injury (mTBI and sTBI). Patients with mTBI performed within the normal range, while patients with sTBI showed significant impairments in correct-word z-scores and category shifts. The lexical, temporal, and semantic measures of the C-VF provide an automated and comprehensive description of verbal fluency performance.

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“…However, there are still some unresolved issues that need to be addressed, such as the influence of the patient's intellectual level and psychiatric status on PVTs (Avila et al., ; Shandera et al., ). It has also been noted that patients with TBI may have difficulty with PVTs for a myriad of other reasons, including education level, attention impairments, or receptive language impairments (Schroeder, Twumasi‐Ankrah, Baade, & Marshall, ; Woods et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of feigned cognitive impairment in severe traumatic brain injury patients with the Forced‐choice Graphics Memory Test

et al. 2016

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IntroductionThe Forced‐choice Graphics Memory Test (FGMT) is a newly developed measure to assess feigned cognitive impairment. This study investigated the ability and reliability of FGMT for identification of malingering in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).MethodsThe FGMT was administered to 40 healthy volunteers instructed to respond validly (Healthy Control, H‐C), 40 healthy volunteers instructed to feign cognitive impairment (Healthy Malingering, H‐M), 40 severe TBI patients who responded validly (TBI control, TBI‐C), and 30 severe TBI patients who evidenced invalid performance (TBI malingering, TBI‐M).ResultsBoth malingering groups (H‐M and TBI‐M) performed much more poorly than the nonmalingering groups (H‐C and TBI‐C). The FGMT overall total score, score on easy items, and score on hard items differed significantly across the four groups. The total score showed the highest classification accuracy in differentiating malingering from nonmalingering. A cutoff of less than 18 (total items) successfully identified 95% of TBI‐C and 93.3% of TBI‐M participants. The FGMT also demonstrated high test–retest reliability and internal consistency. FGMT scores were not affected by TBI patients' education, gender, age, or intelligence.ConclusionOur results suggest that the FGMT can be used as a fast and reliable tool for identification of feigned cognitive impairment in patients with TBI.

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Computerized analysis of error patterns in digit span recall

Cited by 31 publications

References 68 publications

The Effects of Aging, Malingering, and Traumatic Brain Injury on Computerized Trail-Making Test Performance

The Effects of Aging, Malingering, and Traumatic Brain Injury on Computerized Trail-Making Test Performance

Computerized Analysis of Verbal Fluency: Normative Data and the Effects of Repeated Testing, Simulated Malingering, and Traumatic Brain Injury

Assessment of feigned cognitive impairment in severe traumatic brain injury patients with the Forced‐choice Graphics Memory Test

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